Winterlandschaft, ein Wanderer überquert auf einem Steg einen Bach 

Jan Hulswit’s watercolor, entitled “Winterlandschaft, ein Wanderer überquert auf einem Steg einen Bach”, depicts a wintry landscape with a solitary traveler crossing a bridge. Painted in the late 18th or early 19th century in the Netherlands, this work offers insight into the cultural values of the time, as the country moved into the industrial era. While this intimate watercolor does not overtly critique the rising merchant classes, it seems to suggest a nostalgic look back to simpler times. The image creates meaning through visual codes and historical associations, such as the romantic image of the wanderer. The broken tree might symbolize the effects of industrialization on nature. As an art historian, I would look into Dutch landscape painting traditions and the cultural shifts occurring in Dutch society during Hulswit's time to understand this image better. Researching Dutch literature and poetry of the period might reveal other ways that the rural was idealized in opposition to the industrial.